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Heatwave grips Surrey

The Met Office said a strong El Nino event contributed around 0.2C to the annual average for 2016, which was an estimate of 1.1C above the long term average from 1850 to 1900.

They added the main contributor to warming over the last 150 years is human influence on climate from increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Twins Simran and Nihael (9) having fun in the River Mole during the 35c heatwave, Cobham

Professor Tim Osborn, director of research at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, said: “Multiple lines of independent evidence confirm that the planet has warmed over the last 150 years: warmer oceans, warmer land, warmer lower atmosphere and melting ice.

"This long-term trend is the main cause for the record warmth of 2015 and 2016, surpassing all previous years – even ones with strong El Niño events – in the HadCRUT4 global temperature record.”